Multi-platform digital television

ABSTRACT

A multi-platform television comprises at least one television signal interface to receive premium television services from at least two different television service providers. The television further comprises a programmable conditional access system to enable conditional access to the premium television services received by the at least one television signal interface from the at least two different service providers.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of and claims priority to U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/427,706, filed on Apr. 30, 2003. The contents ofwhich are hereby incorporated by reference into this application as ifset forth herein in full.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present invention relates to digital television sets.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

Until recently, substantially the only option for consumers to accessdigital television was to acquire a set-top box. However, a newalternative in the form of an integrated digital television set isemerging. The integrated digital television set provides a single unitthat allows consumers to directly access digital content. These unitsare able to receive free-to-air digital signals usually through aconventional television antenna without the need for a set-top box.However, cable television and direct broadcast satellite (DBS) aredominant video entertainment service providers whose needs are not fullymet with current integrated digital television sets.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is pointed out with particularity in the appendedclaims. However, other features are described in the following detaileddescription in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a multi-platform digitaltelevision.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention provides an integrated digital television setcompatible with over-the-air, cable and direct broadcast satellite (DBS)television service distribution means. The integrated digital televisionset handles multiple premium television services offered by cable andDBS television service providers in a seamless manner and without anadditional set-top box. Examples of the premium television servicesinclude, but are not limited to, pay-per-view, video-on-demand andinteractive television services. The integrated digital television setprovides a common platform that enables digital television setmanufacturers to address the needs of cable television service providersand their subscribers, and DBS television service providers and theirsubscribers.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a multi-platform digitaltelevision 10. The television 10 comprises one television signalinterface 12 to receive television signals from at least one source.Preferably, the at least one television signal interface 12 comprises acable television signal interface 14, a direct broadcast satelliteinterface 16 and an over-the-air television signal interface 20. Each ofthe interfaces 14, 16 and 20 may comprise a respective coaxial cablejack, for example.

The cable television signal interface 14 is to receive televisionsignals from a cable television source 22. The cable television source22 communicates the television signals to the user via a cable plant.The direct broadcast satellite television signal interface 16 is toreceive television signals from a direct broadcast satellite source 24using an external antenna 26 such as a dish antenna. Examples of thedirect broadcast satellite source 24 include those marketed under theEchostar™ brand and the DirecTV™ brand. The over-the-air televisionsignal interface 20 is to receive television signals from over-the-airsources 28 using an external antenna 30. The over-the-air sources 28 areterrestrial sources that broadcast local channels.

The television 10 further comprises a cable demodulator 32, a directbroadcast satellite demodulator 34 and an over-the-air demodulator 36.The cable demodulator 32 is to demodulate television signals receivedvia the cable television signal interface 14. The cable demodulator 32may comprise a quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) demodulator and/ora vestigial sideband (VSB) demodulator. The QAM demodulator may comprisea 64-QAM demodulator and/or a 256-QAM demodulator. The VSB demodulatormay comprise a 16-VSB demodulator, which demodulates a 16-level versionof United States terrestrial broadcasts with 4 bits per symbol and noforward error correction (FEC).

The direct broadcast satellite demodulator 34 is to demodulatetelevision signals received via the direct broadcast satellitetelevision signal interface 16. The direct broadcast satellitedemodulator 34 may comprise a quaternary phase shift keying (QPSK)demodulator. The QPSK demodulator demodulates a digital transmissionover frequency modulated (FM) carriers using QPSK, which is similar toQAM but without substantial amplitude variations.

The over-the-air demodulator 36 is to demodulate television signalsreceived via the over-the-air television signal interface 20. Theover-the-air demodulator 36 may comprise an Advanced Television SystemsCommittee (ATSC) demodulator to demodulate 8-VSB modulation signals usedfor terrestrial broadcasting in the United States. The signal has acarrier at the same frequency as the current analog carrier for eachchannel allocation. The carrier is amplitude modulated at one of eightpossible levels about at a 6 MHz rate. Filters limit the total bandwidthto the 6 MHz channel allocation to avoid adjacent channel interference.

The television 10 comprises an input source selector 40 to identifywhich of the interfaces 14, 16 and 20 is a source of a user-selectedchannel. The channel may be user-selected using a remote control and/ora channel selecting interface integrated with the television 10. Theinput source selector 40 identifies a television signal received on theuser-selected channel and determines the nature of the televisionsignal. This process is done automatically by detecting themodulation-type of the television signal. The television signal isdirected to an appropriate one of the demodulators 32, 34 and 36 basedon said detecting the modulation-type. The appropriate one of thedemodulators 32, 34 and 36 performs either ATSC demodulation, QAMdemodulation or QPSK demodulation on the television signal. It is notedthat the demodulators 32, 34 and 36 can be embodied by a singleprogrammable demodulation unit that performs the task of demodulatingall three different types of modulated signals.

The television 10 comprises a digital television (DTV) decoder 42 todecode demodulated digital television signals from the demodulators 32,34 and 36 in real-time. The DTV decoder 42 has modes to decode variousDTV formats, such as high definition (HD) formats and standarddefinition (SD) formats. Preferably, the DTV decoder 42 is capable ofdecoding signals that are interlaced (e.g. a 1920.times.1080i HDresolution signal) and progressive (e.g. a 1280.times.720p HD resolutionsignal). The DTV decoder 42 is also capable of decoding full resolutionSD signals (e.g. a 720.times.480i resolution signal).

The DTV decoder 42 comprises a Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG)decoder 44 to decode data compressed based on an MPEG-based protocol. Inone embodiment, the MPEG decoder 44 is capable of decoding datacompressed based on MPEG-2. As subsequent MPEG standards are deployed,the MPEG decoder 44 may be based thereon.

Preferably, the MPEG decoder 44 is flexible to enable decoding of atleast two different versions of MPEG streams (e.g. at least twodifferent versions of MPEG-2 streams). For example, a standard versionof MPEG-2 technology is specified for ATSC terrestrial broadcasting,digital cable transmission as specified by the Society for CableTelecommunications Engineers (SCTE), and Echostar™ s direct broadcastsatellite transmissions. However, a second version of MPEG-2, whichdiffers slightly from the standard version, is used by DirecTV™. Thus,it is preferred that the MPEG decoder 44 be capable of decoding ATSC,SCTE, Echostar®, and DirecTV® versions of MPEG-2 streams. In general,the MPEG decoder 44 may be programmable to allow any number of differentforms of MPEG-2 or another MPEG-based format to be decoded.

The DTV decoder 42 sends a resulting decoded video signal to a display46 integrated with the television 10. The display 46 may comprise acathode ray tube (CRT), a liquid crystal display (LCD), a plasmadisplay, or another display technology to display the resulting decodedvideo for view. The display 46 displays video based on the resultingdecoded video signal.

The television 10 comprises a programmable conditional access system(PCAS) 50 to allow different service providers to offer premium servicesusing a common interface. The PCAS 50 provides a common hardwareplatform for conditional access of premium television services fromdirect broadcast satellite and cable service providers. The PCAS 50 maycomprise a card reader/writer 52 or an alternative data reader/writer toread/program conditional access (CA) and digital rights management (DRM)data to a removable card 54 or an alternative machine-readable storagemedium. The removable card 54 or alternative machine-readable storagemedium may comprise a magnetic storage medium, an electronic storagemedium, or an optical storage medium, for example. One example of theremovable card 54 is a programmable PCMCIA-like card.

Each television service provider can program the removable card 54 withits own version of conditional access (CA) and digital rights management(DRM). In particular, the removable card 54 containsservice-provider-specific CA data and DRM data. Thus, the same hardwareinterface is used for multiple, if not all, premium television serviceproviders. When changing service providers, the user replaces theremovable card 54 with another removable card having CA and DRM dataspecific to the new service provider. The card reader 52 reads theservice-provider-specific CA and DRM data to enable display premiumchannels to be displayed the display 46.

To further illustrate use of the PCAS 50, consider a first televisionservice provider that provides a first premium television service and asecond television service provider that provides a second premiumtelevision service. The first and second premium television serviceproviders may be two different cable television service providers, twodifferent direct broadcast satellite television service providers, orone cable television service provider and one direct broadcast satellitetelevision service provider.

The PCAS 50 enables conditional access to both the first premiumtelevision service and the second premium television service. The PCAS50 provides a first version of CA and DRM for the first premiumtelevision service and a second version of CA and DRM for the secondpremium television service. The two versions of CA and DRM maysimultaneously reside in the PCAS 50 and/or the removable card 54. Thisis beneficial when the television 10 is used to receive premium channelsfrom both a cable television service provider and a direct broadcastsatellite television service provider. Alternatively, the second versionof CA and DRM can reside in the PCAS 50 and/or the removable card 54after the first version of CA and DRM has resided therein. This isbeneficial when the user has changed service providers (e.g. one cableprovider to another cable provider, one DBS provider to another DBSprovider, a cable provider to a DBS provider, or a DBS provider to acable provider) to supply premium channels to the television 10.

Optionally, the PCAS 50 may be programmed by signals received via thecable interface 14, the direct broadcast satellite interface 16, theover-the-air interface 20, or the DBS telephone return interface 60. Inthis case, each television service provider can send its own specific CAand/or DRM data to the television 10, which in turn is written to theremovable card 54.

Using the PCAS 50, each television service provider has the freedom ofimplanting its own version of CA and DRM, and consumers have the freedomof changing service providers without having to change their televisionset or acquire a new set-top box.

To enable two-way communication with the DBS source 24, the television10 comprises a DBS telephone return interface 60, such as thoseimplemented in conventional DBS set-top boxes. Two-way communicationwith the cable source 22 is facilitated via the cable interface 14 andthe cable plant.

The television 10 comprises a processor 62 such as a central processingunit (CPU) and a memory 64 such as a random access memory (RAM) toprovide controls and management functionality therefore. The television10 may comprise an optional hard drive 66 or alternative re-writeablestorage medium to provide personal video recording (PVR) features.

Preferably, all of the components illustrated within the blockrepresenting the television 10 in FIG. 1 are integrated into a singletelevision set. For example, it is preferred that none of theaforementioned components be associated with a set-top box separablefrom the television 10. However, the scope of this disclosure should beconstrued to broadly contemplate embodiments where at least one of theaforementioned components is located in a set-top box separable from thetelevision 10. For example, the features described with reference to theprogrammable conditional access system 50 may implemented in set-topboxes. It is also noted that a memory integrated with the PCAS 50 may besubstituted for the removable card 54 in alternative embodiments.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the disclosedinventions may be modified in numerous ways and may assume manyembodiments other than the preferred forms specifically set out anddescribed herein.

Accordingly, it is intended by the appended claims to cover allmodifications which fall within the true spirit and scope of the presentinvention.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus comprising: a processor; and amemory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by theprocessor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising: receivingan input signal; detecting a first modulation type of the input signal;demodulating an input signal via a cable demodulator to generate a firstdemodulated signal responsive to a first modulation type correspondingto cable television or via a satellite demodulator to generate the firstdemodulated signal responsive to the first modulation type correspondingto satellite television; reading, from a removable memory card, firstconditional access and digital rights management data associated with acable service provider and second conditional access and digital rightsmanagement data associated with a first satellite service provider;enabling cable television services of the cable service provideraccording to the first conditional access and digital rights managementdata and first satellite television services of the first satelliteservices provider according to the second conditional access and digitalrights management data; decoding the first demodulated signal togenerate a first decoded signal; presenting the first decoded signal ata display according to a channel selection; storing third conditionalaccess and digital rights management data associated with a secondsatellite service provider at the removable memory card; disabling thefirst satellite television services of the first satellite serviceprovider; and enabling second satellite television services of thesecond satellite service provider.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, furthercomprising an over-the-air television signal interface for receiving anover-the-air television signal.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2, furthercomprising an over-the-air demodulator for demodulating the over-the-airtelevision signal.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the cabledemodulator comprises a quadrature amplitude modulation demodulator. 5.The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the satellite demodulator comprises aquaternary phase shift keying demodulator.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1,further comprising executable instructions which, responsive to beingexecuted by the processor, cause the processor to further performoperations comprising: receiving the second conditional access anddigital rights management data from the first satellite serviceprovider; and storing the second conditional access and digital rightsmanagement data in the removable memory card.
 7. The apparatus of claim1, wherein the operations further comprise storing the secondconditional access and digital rights management data at the memory. 8.The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the second conditional access anddigital rights management data that is stored in the memory isaccessible to the processor when the removable card is removed from theapparatus.
 9. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the first decoded signalcomprises a moving picture experts group-2 encoding.
 10. The apparatusof claim 1 wherein the operations further comprise removing the secondconditional access and digital rights management data from the removablememory card.
 11. An apparatus comprising: a processor; and a memory thatstores executable instructions that, when executed by the processor,facilitate performance of operations, comprising: reading, from aremovable memory card, first conditional access and digital rightsmanagement data associated with a first premium television serviceprovider and second conditional access and digital rights managementdata associated with a second premium television service provider;enabling first premium television services according to the firstconditional access and digital rights management data and second premiumtelevision services according to the second conditional access anddigital rights management data; decoding a first premium televisionsignal to generate a first decoded signal responsive to enabling thefirst premium television services and responsive to determining a firsttype of the first premium television signal; presenting the firstdecoded signal at a display according to a channel selection; storingthird conditional access and digital rights management data associatedwith a third premium television service provider at the removable memorycard; disabling the second premium television services of the secondpremium television service provider; and enabling third premiumtelevision services of the third premium television service provider.12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the first premium televisionsignal is a cable television signal.
 13. The apparatus of claim 11,wherein the operations further comprise: receiving an over-the-airtelevision signal; and demodulating the over-the-air television signalby advanced television systems committee demodulation.
 14. The apparatusof claim 11, further comprising a cable demodulator for demodulation thefirst premium television signal.
 15. The apparatus of claim 11, furthercomprising a satellite demodulator for demodulation the first premiumtelevision signal.
 16. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the operationsfurther comprise demodulating the first premium television signal byquadrature amplitude modulation demodulation.
 17. The apparatus of claim11, wherein the operations further comprise demodulating the firstpremium television signal by quaternary phase shift keying demodulation.18. A digital television device, comprising: a processor; and a memorythat stores executable instructions that, when executed by theprocessor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising: determiningwhether a first modulation type of a television signal corresponds tocable television or satellite television; selecting a cable demodulatoror a satellite demodulator to generate a first demodulated signalaccording to the first modulated type; decoding, the first demodulatedsignal to generate a first decoded signal; enabling one of first cabletelevision services according to first conditional access and digitalrights management data stored at a removable memory card or satellitetelevision services according to second conditional access and digitalrights management data stored at the removable memory card; presentingthe first decoded signal at a display; and storing third conditionalaccess and digital rights management data for second cable televisionservices at the removable memory card.
 19. The digital television deviceof claim 18, wherein the operations further comprise: receiving a secondtelevision signal; disabling the first cable television services; andenabling the second cable television services.
 20. The digitaltelevision device of claim 18, wherein the operations further compriseremoving the second conditional access and digital rights managementdata from the removable memory card.